U.S. patent number 4,053,291 [Application Number 05/715,594] was granted by the patent office on 1977-10-11 for cylindrical deaerator.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air. Invention is credited to David L. Sims.
United States Patent |
4,053,291 |
Sims |
October 11, 1977 |
Cylindrical deaerator
Abstract
An improved oil deaerator having an entrance tube with holes to
allow much of the air to escape prior to entering the deaerator
entry tube which is inclined and flattened causing the air/oil
mixture to flow against the inside of the cylinder with the oil
going to the outside and out the bottom louvers and the air
escaping through a spout at the top. The unique design of the
bottom with slotted or louvered oil exit openings and double
cylinder arrangement reduces the possibility of the formation of a
vortex.
Inventors: |
Sims; David L. (West Palm
Beach, FL) |
Assignee: |
The United States of America as
represented by the Secretary of the Air (Washington,
DC)
|
Family
ID: |
24874701 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/715,594 |
Filed: |
August 18, 1976 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
96/209;
210/512.1; 96/187; 96/362 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B01D
19/0057 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
19/00 (20060101); B01D 019/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;55/52,182,204,205
;210/512 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Spear, Jr.; Frank A.
Assistant Examiner: Burks; Richard W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Rusz; Joseph E. Tashjian; Arsen
Government Interests
STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or
for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of
any royalty thereon.
Claims
Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim and
desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:
1. In combination, an improved cylindrical deaerator for separating
the air from a circulating air/oil mixture and a curved elongated
entrance tube having an inlet and an outlet, said deaerator
comprising a main cylinder for receiving the air/oil mixture, a
downwardly inclined entry tube attached through the sidewall in the
upper portion of said main cylinder, said entry tube having a round
inlet and a flattened outlet to supply the air/oil mixture
tangential to the wall of said main cylinder, the outlet of said
entrance tube being operatively connected to the inlet of the entry
tube on said main cylinder, and a series of holes in the wall of
said entrance tube to allow a substantial amount of the air in the
air/oil mixture passing therethrough to escape prior to entering
the deaerator, a series of vertically oriented elongated openings
in the lowermost portion of the wall of said main cylinder, a
spaced concentric outer cylinder positioned around the lower
portion of said main cylinder, upper and lower rims disposed
between the upper and lower edges of said outer cylinder and the
wall of said main cylinder, a series of outlet holes in said rims
to allow the deaerated oil to return to the tank, and a spout in
the top center of said main cylinder to allow the separated air to
escape.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a cylindrical deaerator for removing the air from
an air/oil mixture and, more particularly, the invention is
concerned with providing a cylindrical deaerator wherein the
air/oil mixture is caused to enter the cylinder at a downward angle
through a flattened entry tube and the deaerated oil exits through
a louvered bottom which prevents the formation of vortices.
The cylindrical deaerator depends primarily on the centrifugal
force of swirling air/oil mixture to free the air bubbles from the
oil. In this type of deaerator the flow is generally directed
toward the tank outlet inducing the formation of vortices with the
resultant possibility of interruption of the steady flow of
deaerated oil which is necessary for the proper functioning of an
aircraft engine, for example. Also, the entry flow into presently
known cylindrical deaerators is usually from a pipe of circular
cross-section which is supplied by an entrance tube which does not
have any holes in the wall thereof. The oil exits from the bottom
of the cylinder through ordinary openings usually causing the
formation of vortices.
In the hereinafter disclosed cylindrical deaerator, the
above-mentioned drawbacks are eliminated by providing an inclined
and flattened entry flow and a louvered or slotted oil exit. Also,
a special bottom reduces the possibility of vortex while an
entrance tube with holes allows much of the air to escape prior to
entering the deaerator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is concerned with providing a cylindrical
deaerator for removing trapped air from lubricating oil in the
circulating oil system of an engine. The air/oil mixture is first
passed through an entrance tube with holes that discharge mostly
air and then the mixture passes through an inclined and flattened
entry tube into the cylinder where it is further deaerated. The
deaerated oil exits from louvered or slotted openings in the bottom
of the cylinder which is provided with a special bottom to reduce
the possibility of vortex.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a
cylindrical deaerator having an inclined and flattened entry flow
causing the oil to go to the outside and the air to escape through
a spout at the top.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cylindrical
deaerator having vertically oriented louvered or slotted exits in
the wall near the bottom of the cylinder through which the
deaerated oil flows.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a cylindrical
deaerator wherein the bottom is designed to reduce the possibility
of a vortex forming. The louvered cylinder is closed at the bottom
and surrounded by a second, spaced apart, concentric cylinder of
greater diameter with rims having holes between the two cylinders
through which the deaerated oil is discharged.
A further object of the invention is to provide a specially
designed entrance tube having holes in the wall thereof for
attachment to the entry tube of a cylindrical deaerator. Much of
the air in the air/oil mixture will escape prior to entering the
entry tube of the deaerator and the turbulence of the mixure will
be reduced.
These and other objects features and advantages will become more
apparent after considering the following detailed description taken
in conjunction with the annexed drawings and appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an idealized front view partially broken away of a
cylindrical deaerator according to the invention showing the
flattened entry tube attached thereto and the special bottom with
the louvered oil exits;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the cylindrical deaerator shown in FIG. 1
showing the position of the rim between the inner and outer
cylinder with the discharge holes therein; and
FIG. 3 is a partially broken away side view of the air/oil entrance
tube for supplying the entry tube of the cylindrical deaerator
showing the holes in the wall of the entrance tube to partially
deaerate the air/oil mixture prior to entering the deaerator.
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 the cylindrical deaerator
according to the invention includes a main cylinder 13 into which
the air/oil mixture is received. Attached to the sidewall of the
cylinder 13 is the deaerator entry tube 15 which is inclined
downward to cause the air/oil mixture to flow downward against the
inner sidewall of the cylinder 13. The entry tube 15 inludes a
flattened portion 17 which serves to provide a flattened entry flow
for more efficient deaeration of the air/oil mixture.
The bottom portion of the main cylinder 13 is provided with a
plurality of vertically oriented louvers or slots 19 in the lower
wall portion thereof through which the deaerated oil passes. The
air which tends to move inward as the air/oil mixture flows around
the inside wall of the main cylinder 13, escapes upward through the
spout 21 at the top of the cylinder 13. The main cylinder 13 is
closed at the bottom surface. A second concentric cylinder 23 is
positioned in spaced relation around the lower portion of the main
cylinder 13. Two annular rim members 25 are positioned between the
main cylinder 13 and the concentric outer cylinder 23. A plurality
of oil discharge holes 27 are disposed in the rim members 25
through which the deaerated oil from the slots 19 is discharged
into the tank.
An entrance tube 29 having an inlet 31 and an outlet 33 can be used
with the above-described deaerator to produce a more efficient
device. The outlet 33 of the entrance tube 29 is attached to the
round intake of the entry tube 15. A series of holes 35 are
provided in the wall of the entrance tube 29 to allow much of the
air in the air/oil mixture to escape prior to entering the
deaerator. The entrance tube 29 also operates to reduce the
violence of the air/oil stream and, therefore, allows a much higher
flow rate into the cylinder deaerator.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the air/oil mixture
enters the improved oil deaerator through a one-inch diameter entry
tube 15 and is flattened out by a round-to-rectangular section 17.
The mixture then flows against the inside wall of the cylinder 13
with the oil going to the outside and out the louvers or slots 19
at the bottom of the cylinder 13 and the air escaping through the
spout 21 at the top. The mixture enters at an angle of 15 degrees
forcing the oil continuously toward the bottom of the deaerator
cylinder at attitudes of up to 90.degree.. The specially designed
bottom reduces the possibility of a vortex forming.
The improved deaerator may be completely submerged in oil except
for the air spout 21. As a matter of fact, the efficiency of the
deaerating process increases as the oil level rises due to the back
pressure forcing the air out faster. A typical deaerator is only
three inches in diameter and handles a flow rate of 170 pounds per
minute oil and 75 pounds per hour air. When used with the entrance
tube 29 having the holes 35 in the wall thereof, the flow can be
much higher. A typical entrance tube 29 would have eight 3/8 inch
diameter holes that discharge mostly air. This reduces the violence
and partially deaerates the mixture entering the deaerator.
Although the invention has been illustrated in the accompanying
drawing and described in the foregoing specification in terms of a
preferred embodiment thereof, the invention is not limited to this
embodiment or to the particular configuration shown and described.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain
changes, modifications and substitutions can be made, particularly
with respect to the positioning of the various openings without
departing from the true spirit and scope of the appended
claims.
* * * * *